Best Man
by AnnabethLuna
Summary: Harry and Ron give their speeches at the other's wedding. Filled with laughter, tears, memories, and new hope.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the way I imagine Harry's speech would have gone at Ron and Hermione's wedding. I'm assuming that Harry and Ginny are already married for this one. I don't own any characters or plot; that's all J.K. Rowling**

As Harry stood up, clinking his spoon gently against the edge of his glass, all eyes fell on him. Ginny sat at his side, her fingers wrapped around his wrist, and he smiled at her as the crowd quieted. He cleared his throat and began.

"I suppose it's good manners to start off this speech by saying that I was so surprised and honored to be named the best man, especially for such a lovely couple as these two here. But the truth is, I wasn't surprised at all."

The crowd laughed a little at this, and Harry continued.

"Now, as a person who has had a great deal more public attention than he needs or even wants," – more titters – "I was going to try to make this speech short and sweet, like a good best man. But when I started thinking of what to say, I found that wasn't possible. For people as wonderful as Ron and Hermione, you can't say only a few words to sum up how amazing they are."

A soft "aww," from the crowd.

"I guess you could say, in a way, I'm not only Ron's best man, but Hermione's as well." He gestured at his two best friends, both of whom were beaming and tearing up a little. "I mean, ever since we met on the Hogwarts Express, our lives have been irreversibly connected. I mean, not only am I the best friend _and _brother-in-law" – he gestured to Ginny, still holding his hand – "of these two, but I've also been with them for most of our collective lives. Ron and I were inseparable since the first day we met. I'll never forget the funny-looking redhead with the dirt on his nose and the crying younger sister," here Ginny smacked him lightly on the arm and he paused to smile at her, "or that bossy little girl with the big teeth who came into our compartment and informed him of that fact."

"Hey, Harry," said Ron loudly from a few seats away, "I thought as best man you were supposed to compliment us?"

"I'm getting there, Ron, be patient," Harry said, grinning. Hermione was blushing, and she fingered her wand threateningly as he caught her gaze, and he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, almost pulling Ginny out of her seat. The other Weasleys were laughing almost uncontrollably at this point.

"I never knew how much of an effect these two would have on my life. Nor, at times, did I ever suspect _this_ outcome." He gestured to the wedding tent, and the smiling people. "Especially during third year, when _somebody's_ rat," he grinned at Ron, "turned out to be an escaped convict, while he was wrongly accusing _somebody else's _cat," an equally wicked grin at Hermione, "of eating him."

George was now howling, and Hermione and Ron were looking at each other sheepishly. "Sorry about that," Ron muttered.

"Forgiven." Hermione kissed his cheek quickly, prompting shouts of "Get a room!" mostly, once again, from the table where the other Weasley brothers were sitting.

"Or maybe, in sixth year," continued Harry, "when _somebody_" another gesture at Ron, "was dating another girl to make _someone else_" back to Hermione, "jealous."

Ginny was now in silent convulsions as well, and Lavender, sitting in the back with Seamus Finnigan, waved and smiled apologetically at Hermione, who nodded graciously and smiled back.

"We all knew it, you two, long before you did," said Harry, "but we were all doubting you'd get over yourselves and realize it. And I feel like I'm going to have to dodge several well-aimed curses from the memorizer of every single edition of _The Standard Book of Spells_ ever written as soon as this speech is finished." Hermione's cheeks were brilliant red once more.

"But I'm getting to the serious part now," said Harry, and the crowd calmed down. "Even when you two were fighting, or when I've been fighting with one or both of you, I will never forget all the school rules we've broken – all in the name of saving the world, of course" – he inclined his head graciously, and more snickering was heard – "the mountain trolls we've fought, the spells we've learned, the essays Hermione agreed to "look over" for us, the Divination prophecies we've made up, the battles we've fought, the promises we've made.

"I will never forget that you both agreed to go with me, on a long, dangerous journey to defeat Voldemort, staying in tents with no proper food and bored out of our minds, trying not to die, all in the name of friendship. I'll never forget how you said, 'We'll be with you.' I'll never forget how, when I tried to defeat the dementors Umbridge sent after me, I thought of you two for my Patronus. I'll never forget how, after my detention with her, you were waiting up for me, with a solution of Murtlap essence for my bleeding hand. And, even apart from all of these memories, Ron, I'll never regret meeting you, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't be married to the most beautiful woman in the world." He smiled at Ginny, again prompting an "aww" from the audience.

"I beg to differ," said Ron loudly, gesturing at Hermione, who flushed again, causing the crowd to let out an even louder, "Aww."

"I'll never forget the trip on the Hogwarts Express where I met the most wonderful family I've ever known." He inclined his head at the Weasleys. "And the youngest brother, who came to sit with me and attempted to turn aforementioned escaped-convict-turned-rat yellow based on a dud spell his twin brothers gave him. I'll never forget the girl who came barging into our compartment and started talking so fast I could barely understand what she said."

Hermione glared at him again.

"I'll never forget that Halloween night when a couple of scared eleven-year-olds burst into a girl's bathroom to save a girl because they'd locked a troll in with her. And I'll never forget how that same girl lied to get them out of trouble. And who's kept them out of trouble," inclining his head to Hermione, "ever since."

Her glare softened.

"People say I'm the savior of the Wizarding world. I don't think that's true. I think you two are, because you saved me. You gave me the first friends I'd ever had. You gave me hope. You gave me love. You gave me a family." He gestured to the Weasleys. "Even in my darkest hours, I knew you were there, and that thought gave me the strength to keep going on."

Hermione's eyes were full of tears, and Hagrid was blowing his nose with a loud trumpeting noise. Mrs. Weasley was dabbing at her eyes.

"And I can think of nothing more appropriate than having the two people who saved me, be the ones who will save each other. Hermione and Ron, I wish you a future that is as happy as your past has already been. Though hopefully with fewer Dark Lords."

There was some slightly choked laughter at this.

"So here's to friendship, and here's to love. Here's to the couple of the day, Hermione and Ron Weasley!" Harry concluded, raising his goblet high in the air. Clinks echoed through the tent, and voices called, "To Hermione and Ron."

"And here's to a lovely speech," added Hermione, standing up, "so lovely, in fact, that I will refrain from hexing you for all the insults!"

There was more laughter at that, and Harry pretended to wipe his forehead in relief.

"Probably," added Hermione, in a menacing voice, and Harry groaned. Ron and Hermione kissed, and everyone cheered.

As Harry sat down, he squeezed Ginny's hand. She raised it to her lips and kissed his fingers, and then beamed at him. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too," he said. "Always and forever."


	2. Chapter 2

**Not as good as Harry's, and I know it's a bit out of order, but ah well. Here's Ron's speech at Harry and Ginny's wedding! Once again, none of this is mine.**

"And now," announced Ron, standing up and banging his fork on his goblet, "it is time for me to give me to give my speech, so if everyone will now take their eyes off of the snogging couple over there and focus on me, that would be greatly appreciated."

Harry and Ginny detached themselves to glare at Ron, who smirked back at them and waited until it was quiet before beginning to talk.

"Well," he began, "I've never really had much of a way with words, but as it is apparently a tradition for the best man to give a speech at the wedding, I guess I have to. And, I can't really deny that I did kind of want to. I mean, a chance to humiliate Harry in front of a huge crowd of people? Sign me up!"

Ginny's eyes were narrowed, and Ron looked a little nervous. "However," he said quickly, "as I know that Ginny casts a mean Bat-Bogey Hex, I won't embarrass her too much."

"Some friend you are," muttered Harry under his breath, but he couldn't keep the smile from his face for long.

"As brother and best friend of the people getting married, I think I should get some right to humiliate you a little bit," protested Ron. "But anyway. Do you want me to do my speech or not?"

When everyone was quiet, he started to talk again.

"Everyone here knows Harry Potter as the Boy Who Lived. And that's actually the way Ginny knew him at first, too – ever since she first heard from Fred and George that he was on the Hogwarts Express and begged our mother to let her go on and see him. It was even more apparent the next year, when they were at Hogwarts together, and she couldn't even look at him – but that didn't stop her from sending him an awful singing Valentine that embarrassed him in front of the entire hallway – including Draco Malfoy."

Ginny was blushing. "I thought you weren't going to humiliate me too much!" she cried.

"Just let me finish! Anyway, the first time the two of them had any sort of interaction whatsoever was at the end of Harry's and my second year, after Harry and I had charged into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue her from a basilisk. Naturally, a heavy rockfall prevented me from doing anything else, and Harry got to claim all the glory for that escapade. I do accept compliments, though, for it being my wand which removed Lockhart's memory. Harry had nothing to do with that one."

The Boy Who Lived was now glaring at Ron as well.

"Hey, I'm your best man. This is my privelige! Anyway, after that, Ginny was even more in awe of Harry, but she stopped showing it so much. She assumed – rightly, I suppose – that if she actually relaxed around him and stopped letting her life revolve around him, then he would notice her. And notice he did.

"Our sixth year, he kept getting hit by Bludgers because he couldn't keep his eyes off of her during Quidditch practice. And naturally, their first kiss would have to have been right after the Quidditch final that year – which Harry missed, actually, due to a detention given him by the greasiest – sorry, by the Savior of our Society, Severus Snape," Ron hastily amended, at the glares Harry and Hermione were sending him.

"Needless to say, I was much happier with Harry than I had been with any of her other boyfriends. I was actually praying they wouldn't break up – I figured that as his best friend, that would make the 'you break her heart I break your face' talk much more awkward. Thankfully, there was never a need for that – not a real one, anyway."

He paused, cleared his throat, and continued. "Ginny, I know I've always seemed too overprotective, and gotten on your nerves. The truth is, of all our siblings, we're the closest in age, so we've always been able to argue. But despite that, you are still my baby sister, and I will always love you, and always want to protect you. Even if it is from my best friend in the world." Despite herself, tears began to pool in Ginny's eyes; Harry reached up and wiped them away for her, smiling gently as Ron continued.

"Harry, ever since we sat together on the Hogwarts Express, we have been friends for life. I can't even imagine what my life would have been like if I had never met you. And I know I'm not as well-spoken as Hermione" – he nudged the girl sitting next to him with a playful smile – "but I know that being friends with you has given me more than almost anything in my life. I am so thankful for all the adventures we've been through, and for everything that I've learned from you. And you have been such a good friend to me that I've always been grateful when I could give back – even if that did mean I had to let you practice Stunning me for bloody hours when you were trying to win the Triwizard Tournament."

Harry smiled, but even he was tearing up a little.

"I'm so happy for you, and hope you continue to be happy for the rest of your lives." Ron raised his glass, but hesitated. "However, that being said, there is one thing I have left to say."

He paused dramatically, and then said, "You break her heart, I _will _break your face."

Amid the laughter, Ron called, "Cheers!" and raised his glass. As everyone in the room echoed the motion, Ron sat back down beside Hermione, and squeezed her hand.

"I'm jealous," she said, fake-pouting. "I barely got mentioned at all."

"Don't worry," Ron said, fingering the ring in his pocket, where it was waiting for the right moment. "You'll get a speech all your own, very soon."


End file.
